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In February, Takatoshi Kato of Japan joined the IMF as Deputy Managing Director, replacing Shigemitsu Sugisaki (also of Japan). Previously, he held a series of senior positions at Japan’s Ministry of Finance—including Vice-Minister of Finance for International Affairs (1995-97)—advised the president of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank, and taught in both Japan (Waseda University) and the United States (Princeton University). He spoke with Laura Wallace of the IMF Survey about the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, current trends in Asia, and his IMF security brief.
The global economic expansion following the slowdown of 1997-98 has continued to gain strength, with global output growth projected at 4.7 percent in 2000—0.5 percentage point higher than the May estimate—according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook. The improvement has been led by the continued strength of the U.S. economy, recoveries in several emerging market economies, a robust expansion in Europe, and a nascent—if still fragile—recovery in Japan. Nevertheless, the report cautions, economic and financial imbalances in the three main currency areas remain large, and higher oil prices have become an increasing concern. Also, a number of countries continue to experience serious economic problems—in some cases due to natural disasters and adverse movements in commodity prices—while the HIV/AIDS pandemic poses a severe human and economic threat, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.